Private Eye (Cyclops/785) Absymal Setback

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I’m suffering weekly bloggers malaise.

That’s where you have bags of time to prepare a blog, and solve the puzzle, take notes, and prepare the main part of the blog but leave the opening words till the last minute.  Then on every reminder click “remind me later” till it can’t be ignored.  Then realise you have largely forgotten about it all.

Luckily, I have my solving notes, so I will talk about that …

Solving got off to a flying start with the relatively easy 1D.  A hidden.  There are 3 hiddens in this crossword which is unusually high for this particular clue type.  I guess Cyclops is given free rein to do whatever he wants clue-wise.  Anyway, who’s going to complain.  For instance if a certain ‘Hislop, I’ gets a letter about a clue like, say, 9A: complaining  it is “encouraging the strangulation of a saint!”, he would probably say “Keep up the good work” (I know I would).

Hmmm.  That paragraph got a bit off-topic quickly.  Yes.  Solving.   For a while I thought I was on for a clean sweep, a one-pass solve, but 17d certainly put paid to that.  That one kept me wondering for quite some time after everything else was filled in.
I define “End of first pass” as when I read and solve or fail the last clue I haven’t attempted.  If I solve it, and it provides more crossers for unsolved lights then it is still the “first pass”.  This is on the grounds that many of the lights get crossers before I even attempt the clue, and I feel the beauty of crosswords is the way solved clues lead to more information about unsolved clues.  Surely that’s what crossword solving is all about!  I know there are people who solve really quickly and make a virtue of that.  I prefer to savour the solving process and make a feature of the way more information that crossers provide can make a previously intractable clue solvable.
For example, when I first attempted 18/4, the two-light clue, I had the final S in place.  That’s all. And that wasn’t enough to stop me thinking of Sarah Palin and getting nowhere.  But when I returned to it later after another crosser was put in place (the L), the answer was clear when I realised “Deputy” was equivalent to “Vice”.  The wordplay for that one was definitely deduced later!

Anyway.  A solving competition with a time limit of say an hour or half-hour (some might see as a generous), plus the rule that you read each clue out loud and ticked it off as read, with the objective to solve as many as possible in “one pass” – I’m in for that!

So, 5d and 17d were unsolved at the end of the first pass this time.   For 5d Tom Wolfe is at the limit of my knowledge of American authors.  For 17d I was debating which of SHRIMP or SCRIMP could fit S.R.M.
Realising it was the latter clicked when I spotted the definition included wouldn’t.
I find inverse definitions like this much harder to see.

I seem to have run out of steam.  (Or stream of consciousness.)  Just as well.

Across
8 BOHEMIAN Arty, virile male, welcomes one after personal problem (8)
BO (personal problem), HE MAN (virile male) around (welcomes) I (one)
9 MOTHER Throttle head off Theresa? (6)
[s]MOTHER
11 SADDO Blue party – pathetic sort (5)
SAD (blue) DO (party)
12 RING-FENCE Call on criminal to guarantee funds won’t be misused (4-5)
RING (call) FENCE (criminal)
13 AGGRESSOR Offensive type, Roger sags balls (9)
(ROGER SAGS)* AInd: Balls.
15 EVENT Happening straight before Truss’s debut (5)
EVEN (straight) T[russ]
16 LIMITS Slim sort needs to accept sex is restrictive (6)
(SLIM)* AInd: sort, around (needs to accept) IT (sex)
18/4 KAMALA HARRIS Deputy leader of Alaska turned on crooked air marshal (6,6)
AK< (AK = Alaska, turned), (AIR MARSHAL)* AInd: crooked.
21 EARTH Sod the world! (5)
Double Def.
22 REGULARLY Soldier wants shag with one knocked out on a routine basis (9)
REGULAR (soldier) L[a]Y (to shag, with one (a) knocked out)
24 BRAVERMAN “Bastard party needs right bloke!”– right-wing Tory (9)
B[astard] RAVE (party) R[ight] MAN (bloke)
26 BAFTA Flipping one-time great gets award (5)
A (one) T[ime] FAB (great) all reversed (flipping)
28 CRECHE Mediocre cheap housing place providing child care (6)
Hidden in medioCRE CHEap HInd: housing.
29 SVENGALI Sun leaving out evil controller (8)
S[un] (LEAVING)* AInd: out.
Down
1 ABYSMAL Some baby’s malodorous crap (7)
Hidden in sABY’S MALodorous. HInd: some. First one in
2 SHED The woman would – for Slough! (4)
SHE’D (the woman would)
3 IMPOVERISH One politician finished his shift bankrupt? (10)
I MP (One politician) OVER (finished) (HIS)* AInd: shift.
5 WOLF US writer getting end away? Lecher! (4)
WOLF[e] Ref. Tom Wolfe
6 CHANCELLOR Hunt no longer takes opportunity to stagger back (10)
CHANCE (opportunity) ROLL< (stagger, back)  J Hunt is no longer Chancellor
7 CRUELTY It’s not tender, filthy lucre today, on vacation (7)
(LUCRE)* AInd: filthy, T[oda]Y
10 ANORAK Habit of House leader to leave one on Jack’s butt (6)
[m]ANOR (house, leader to leave), A (one), [jac]K
14 GRIM REAPER Grisly old farmhand – the death of you? (4,6)
GRIM (grisly) REAPER (old farmhand)
15 ED MILIBAND Minister ‘B’ caught in mid-denial perhaps (2,8)
(B + MID-DENIAL)* AInd: perhaps.
17 SCRIMP Big spender wouldn’t text part absent member (6)
SCRIPT (text) – P[ar]T (part, absent) + MP (member).  Last one in.
19 SETBACK Delay getting Bet screwed in bed (7)
(BET)* AInd: screwed, inside SACK (bed)
20 PYRAMID Primary fiasco – Democrat replaces Republican with massive erection (7)
(PRIMARY -R +D)* AInd: fiasco.
23 GENEVA City needs data on eastern state (6)
GEN (data) E[astern] VA (state, Virginia)
25 ECHO Speech on housing that sounds familiar (4)
Hidden in speECH On HInd: housing.
27 FLAP Panic causes fellow to cover genital area (4)
F[ellow] LAP (genital area)

When will all the rhetorical questions end?

16 comments on “Private Eye (Cyclops/785) Absymal Setback”

  1. Thanks for the blog , very good set of neat clues this time , PYRAMID my favourite.

    I am always interested in solving styles. I try each Across in order and write in what I solve. Then each Down in order without looking at the grid , a first pass solve is extremely rare . I then tackle each corner using the grid.

  2. It seems there is no fixed rule for “first passes”. I, like Roz, try each Across in order and write in what I solve. Then each Down in order but I allow myself to look at my solved Across clues. I have never solved it in any of my first passes.

  3. Michael@2 I think first pass ends once you have had a look at every clue , whatever the order. Beermagnet seems to agree but he jumps around a lot. I would never solve this on first pass but rarely the Guardian or FT is extremely easy .

  4. I was feeling so chuffed at having completed this – till I noticed I’d actually fallen at the final hurdle: I had FEAR instead of FLAP (though I did think “rear” was a tad vague for “genital area”, and cover is a loose-ish synonym for replace).
    Oh well, there’s always next time…
    Thank you beermagnet and Cyclops.

  6. Didn’t manage this one in the end — was missing 9A and 7D eventually, and only got 5D and 17D in at a guess. Still don’t understand how either of their clues work, though I was guessing wolf was defined as lecher (bizarre to me) and that SCRIPT was leading to SCRIMP (how part absent leads to dropping the PT I still don’t know). Had fun with the rest though!

  7. Thanks beermagnet and Cyclops.
    Si @ 6 re Wolf = Lecher. It’s an old fashioned term. I don’t think I’ve heard it in everyday speech, but used to hear it in old films or see occasionally in older books.
    PART can be abbreviated as PT (such as in documents).
    MEMBER could be a member of Parliament I.e. MP (I think you have this already )

  8. I got stuck on 9A because the ‘definition’ isn’t spelled that way, apparently. The spelling of the lady in question doesn’t come with an h in her name. Please can someone advise what’s the licence on that? Trying to learn. 🙂

  9. Hi Pete, throttle = smother. Head off smother = mother. Mother Theresa was a very famous nun. Hope this helps.

  10. 9ac SMOTHER
    Sorry, def was my mistake – it’s Mother Teresa.
    Very few solvers seem to have spotted the extra H.

  11. For 7D I’m hoping someone can explain how “on vacation” indicates to only take the first and last letter from “today”

  14. Was a fun one but SCRIMP was very difficult and ANORAK as a habit was a stretch.

    Didn’t even notice the extra H in Theresa!

  15. Mick – don’t be bashful, you were in expert company, it seems!

    Thanks Cyclops for confirming. Much obliged and honoured.

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